A recent report alleging a possible Oakland County Sheriff's Office takeover of Walled Lake's Police Department is "not accurate," said a top police union official.

While contracting with the sheriff's office has always been an option, said Walled Lake police union president Denise Gomez Wednesday, "I think (reporters) got it mixed up."

The report, aired on WJBK Wednesday morning, stated that the city's police department could soon be disbanded and officials met Tuesday to discuss the Oakland County Sheriff's Office possibly taking over public safety responsibilities there.

Advertisement

Gomez said, however, that a proposal at a recent budget meeting was actually whether the Walled Lake Fire Department -- an organization with only four full-time employees -- should be disbanded. City officials were also talking about whether the four full-time firefighters should be laid off, said Gomez.

It's no secret that the city's in dire financial straits. According to Gomez, Walled Lake is nearly $10 million in debt. The entire city budget -- which reaches the end of its fiscal year in late June -- has been under review for some time.

"It's always been an option" to contract with the sheriff's office," she said. However, that's not what's happening now, she added.

Walled Lake deputy treasurer Jennifer Stewart said that there was nothing on the city's Tuesday agenda detailing either police or fire contracts, but a resident could have brought the issues up during the public comment portion of the city council meeting.

While there have been budget presentations on both entities, she said, "Everything's in discussion mode right now. Nothing is concrete."

After hearing television reports that Walled Lake Police Department could disband, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said that his agency would be "happy to help."

But "it's hard to comment when our department hasn't been approached," said the sheriff Wednesday.

Concerning the city's fire department, Bouchard said Walled Lake would have to contract with some other fire entity if that's the route they chose.

"Periodically, we get different inquiries from a variety of communities asking for thoughts, prices options and, ultimately, we tell them it's up to them," said Bouchard.

The sheriff's office contracts fire dispatch services with as many as 13 Oakland County communities, and handles public safety and police duties for 16.

Walled Lake has a population of nearly 7,000 people and is about three square miles in size. The city's police department employs more than 10 full-time employees.

Staff writer John Turk covers the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, police and general assignment. He can be reached at 248-745-4613.